DNA Shred Stix/Star Racing/Yamaha - Freestone Report
Wortham, TX - The AMA MX National Series made its move towards the eastern direction this past weekend by landing in the state of Texas and racing at Freestone County Raceway. Being a fairly new stop on the circuit, track conditions and exceptionally hot weather at this race would prove to show what each rider had within themselves. DNA Shred Stix/Star Racing/Yamaha’s top contending riders, #20 Broc Tickle, #48 Max Anstie, #341 Nico Izzi, #577 Martin Davalos and #2 Jessica Paterson all knew that they were provided with the tools for a successful outing, and now it was time to get to work.
Moto one went into session, and for the first time in outdoor competition Izzi started strongly, 5th and was followed by Tickle in 15th, Davalos held 20th. However the other Star Racing pilot Anstie, circulated in 38th with tons of work in his near future. But with the heat index reaching high temperatures, the boys put their heads down and mounted some serious attacks. Up front #341 was proving his skills; Izzi had battled his way to 3rd and maintained consistent lap times as other competitors faltered. Coming quickly to join the top ten was Tickle, who put in an incredible ride from the back and looked really solid. Farther back Davalos rode with a conservative pace to get him to the finish, while Anstie forged forward without rear brakes into the top twenty. Unfortunately Izzi had his breakthrough moment come to a halt when his body overheated, which caused him to pull off. From then on, both Tickle and Anstie aggressively took themselves upward till the last lap. In the end, Tickle took a nice 8th place finish, Davalos nabbed 13th, and the rookie Anstie did good by taking 15th.
The gate dropped for moto two with Davalos getting a great start holding down 6th. Tickle was off to a much better beginning sitting 10th, while Anstie pursued in 11th. In the early laps, Davalos slipped to 12th and was struggling, Tickle was able to move up to the 7th position, and Anstie was riding right on his teammate’s rear wheel just as he had begun. Moving past the mid way point, Davalos was still off the pace but fighting hard to stay in contention. Meanwhile the other DNA backed riders were staying consistent, Tickle and Anstie who had been holding 7th and 8th dug deep for several laps to make a dent into the time difference they had in front of them. Fortunately, the energy reserve was there after the hard charging done earlier, and with that Tickle moved into 5th twenty five minutes into the race. Anstie was on a mission to prove things as well, seeing him take to the rear of Tickle once again. With three laps to go, both riders were the strongest on the track, putting the pressure on the fatigued competition allowed them to march into 3rd and 4th. Never even minutely settling, on the final lap in the final feet to the finish line Tickle swooped up 2nd while Max almost took 3rd but ran out of time and settled for a impressive 4th. At the checkers Davalos pulled out a 9th, and to clarify Izzi did not start the moto due to needing more recovery time.
Results:
Moto 1 Moto 2 = Overall Finish
Broc Tickle 8th 2nd = 4th
Max Anstie 15th 4th = 9th
Martin Davalos 13th 9th = 11th
Nico Izzi DNF DNS
Once again, Patterson decimated the field of WMA competitors by winning both motos, and in great fashion she led every lap except for three with both motos combined together.
Next race: High Point MX park-Mt. Morris, PA
A big thanks goes out to these great sponsors.
DNA Shred Stix, Division 7, Yamaha Motor Corp, FLY Racing, DNA Energy, NCY, Bell Helmets, Easton ExP, FMF, Sunstar, Factory Effex, Dunlop, Enzo, DC Shoes, RK Chains, Yamalube, GYTR, Ride Engineering, Mechanix Wear, Twin Air, Lightspeed, ARC, Braking, Vortex Ignitions, CP pistons, Web Cams, ICW, JD Built, Renegade Fuels, Crank Works, Eibach, EVOMX fuel foam, Met Tec, Champion Tools.
